


We All Become

by metalmeisje



Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Fluff, Kids, Other, domestic fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-02
Updated: 2014-12-02
Packaged: 2018-02-27 21:09:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2706860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/metalmeisje/pseuds/metalmeisje
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It still baffled him sometimes, if he was honest. Just the idea of Ridge and Sjin, two people not on the best of terms even on a good day, sharing the responsibility of taking care of two children. (Note to the Yogscast: Do not read any of my fics on stream.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	We All Become

**Author's Note:**

> This is a little ficlet that is based on Tumblr RP, mainly the thread of Egocentrictrickster and Evilsjin in which Sjin accidentally forces Ridge to have his child. They... Don't really like each other, so this is less than ideal. Xephos loves both his friends and helps out where he can. It's a long story, just... Accept it, alright? Go with it. It's complicated.
> 
> It's shamelessly self-indulgent and I hope I got it right. Also, it's stupidly sweet.

_Oh, with all that I've done wrong_

_I must have done something right_

~

“Papa!”

Xephos let the doors slide shut behind him and immediately crouched, his bag dropping to the floor as he reached down to catch the little bundle of manic energy that hobbled towards him. 

“Hey there, little firefly. Have you been good today?”

Rylee wriggled in his arms, ridiculously warm as always, and Xephos let her settle against him as he rose to his feet to find Ridge. He had to evade a couple of toys on his way but when he reached the living area he saw his friend lying on the couch they´d impulsively made months ago, eyes closed in what was probably the first moment of peace he’d had in hours – if Rylee’s excitement was anything to go by.

The little girl squirmed and Xephos pressed an affectionate kiss to her forehead, smiling as her hair tickled his nose.

“Looks like dad’s asleep. Did you tire him out that much?”

As Xephos spoke, Ridge opened his eyes and tilted his head to look at the spaceman. Xephos smiled at him over Rylee’s head, soft and gentle because god knows that even just half of the little duo could take everything out of a man – even when that man was a self-proclaimed ruler that like to hold on to the idea that he didn’t need to sleep.

Kids changed people. Even Ridge.

“Hey, Xeph,” Ridge said, voice thick with exhaustion but – thanks the gods – no frustration. The man sat up and stretched his arms above his head, blinking at Xephos to chase his sleepiness away.

“Hello, Ridge.”

At the mention of her father’s name Rylee started fidgeting again and Xephos put her down with a grin, ruffling her hair as she wobbled away on tiny legs to join Ridge on the couch.

Ridge’s gaze softened as he watched her stumble towards him and Xephos’ heart jumped a little at the sight. Maybe he would get used to seeing Ridge soften in the blink of an eye, but today was not that day.

He bent over to pick up one of the silly stuffed toys that somehow always ended up scattered all throughout Ridge’s home and hesitated for a moment before he sat down next to his friend, unable to stop smiling when the other man lifted up his baby girl and rubbed their noses together. She curled up on his chest easily and Ridge returned Xephos’ smile with a weary grin of his own.

“You good?” Xephos asked carefully, placing the toy – “ _Lilly_ , papa.” “I’m sorry, sweetheart.” – in between them on the couch as he listened for the sounds of Reia and Sjin playing on the second floor, a sound he’d come to expect. He raised an eyebrow in question, but Ridge shook his head and held Rylee a little closer.

“I’m fine, Xeph. You’re too concerned for your own good. And Reia isn’t here; Sjin took them outside because they adamantly refused to take a nap.”

Ridge’s expression got a little more stern at the mention of Sjin, unease hardening his features until the little girl in his arms mumbled something. It was strange, Xephos thought to himself. For someone as hyper-focused as Ridge could be at times, nothing could drag his attention away from anything that bothered him like his two children could.

It still baffled him sometimes, if he was honest. Just the idea of Ridge and Sjin, two people not on the best of terms even on a good day, sharing the responsibility of taking care of two _children_. Wonderful ones, he added thankfully, maddening and loud and exhausting and absolutely perfect. Even he could see that. They’d left their mark on both men, scattering toys and love through their homes and hearts without even wondering about whether or not they had been welcome in the first place.

He was grateful for that, and he knew that his friends were as well. Despite the grudges that still hadn’t been properly buried, they managed.

When Sjin and Ridge were fed up with one another and Lying wasn´t there to settle their disputes with a simple look, Xephos often took the little ones outside, happy that they had at least agreed on the fact that Rylee and Reia shouldn’t have to listen to them fight. But every time Xephos had returned to either man’s home to check if the storm had passed, one child on his arm and the other in a cart in front of him or, as the months passed, wobbling alongside him, tentative peace had been restored.

Kids _changed_ people.

“I brought food, by the way,” Xephos suddenly remembered, grinning when Ridge looked at him in relief. “Milk for the kids and pork for us, courtesy of Dew. He sends his regards; he’d love to come and visit soon, but he got preoccupied at the factory. You know how it is; he was tinkering with something or other and he said he wanted to take another look at the computer. Honestly, if hem messes up the recipes _again,_ I’ll-“

“Xeph, please.” Ridge interrupted him quietly and Xephos swallowed the rest of his sentence, shrugging once to apologize. He knew he was rambling, but he couldn’t always help it. He’d have thought he would be used to it by now, dividing his time between the factory, SipsCo, wherever the kids were at any moment, but he just got _worried_.

“I’m sorry, friend,” he said quietly.  “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Fine, Xeph. Stop fussing so much, you’re making _me_ nervous.”

Xephos rolled his eyes and let out a relieved laugh, pushing himself up from the couch again to retrieve his bag with the food. Rylee murmured something, already half-asleep, and he touched her soft hair as gently as he could before leaning over her to press a kiss to Ridge’s forehead.

He felt Ridge’s eyes on him as he walked away.

Just when he reached the front door it flung open and he stepped aside quickly, making room for Sjin. He was holding Reia close and smelled like grass and trees, almost bursting with the happiness that he never managed to suppress when he was near his kids.

“Look Reia, it’s papa!” Sjin beamed at Xephos, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek before he kicked the door closed behind him. Xephos shook his head, grabbing his bag from the floor and following Sjin. Say what you wanted about the man, he was goodwith children.

He wandered into the kitchen, the muffled sound of Sjin and Ridge’s conversation from the other side of the wall keeping him company as he stored the food so it wouldn’t spoil. He put a kettle on for tea as well, because it felt like a moment for tea. It was a familiar routine that gave him time to let his mind wander, stress draining from his shoulders and his thoughts until the water boiled.

When he returned, he paused in the entrance for a moment. Sjin was leaning against the wall, talking about something or other to Ridge. There was still tension in the air but less so than before, broken little by little by Rylee’s laughter, Reia’s loud complaints when they got told that yes, now it was really time for a nap.

Slowly, all the walls were being brought down. They cracked under the force of a careful alliance, under bottles of milk and stuffed toys that they never seemed to have enough of. They broke under conversations that lasted hours, with no one backing down or willing to compromise until they had to, settling into a new agreement with the lack of practise of two men who had wanted each other dead.

They shattered every time they heard one of the little ones say _dad, daddy_ , _papa._

Lomadia had once told him that everything changed, given the time. It was a conversation that Xephos had always remembered.

“Ooh, you have tea?”

Sjin’s question interrupted the spaceman’s musings and he nodded, taking the comfortingly warm teapot inside with him. The tea cosy was orange, a few shades too bright and perfectly uneven because it was handmade, but Ridge didn’t comment on it this time.

“I do, friends.”


End file.
